Friday, August 29, 2008

A. Since I am "The Calico Cat" I could be having a litter - so 9 is not a large number of quilts for one mama to make for one baby. :o)I am only using my stash...(I am only doing easy piecing - no Mariners Compass, New York Beauty, etc. on my list. I will send most of them our to be long armed... So my part - which is done by the sewing machine is easy & fairly quick - If I do it.)

B. Thanks for all of the advice on the log cabin. I will do the yellow/blue center & my first logs will be blue. I hope to hand quilt this one. I also hope to have it pieced this long weekend. (I was going to cut strips last night, but we went to interview a pediatrician - my night went down hill from there motivation wise. I am glad to have all of that pediatrician shopping done.)

C. On Sunday in addition to picking up the CSA shares for the week, & probably going into the office for a while, I will be going to see the Fredrick Keys play minor league baseball. Which in and of itself is not so odd (newsworthy) but my friend works for the Orioles Major League baseball team & could get me free tickets... So I am in the midst of thinking to hard on that ponderable.

My MIL sent a package for the babe - with generic (non-gender specific) items. & None of it is Liscensed either - YAY! (I guess I shoud be unpackaging & putting baby stuff away since we have the furniture.

Which reminds me - cats 10 : tent to keep cats off of the crib 0... (This is how you express a ratio, right?)

Not much else going on which in retrospect is probably a "good thing."

Thursday, August 28, 2008

The question: Can I substitute apple sauce for the oil in the zucchini bread? Is it a 1 for 1 substitution? Does that necessitate a change in cooking time or temp.?(Based on me using 2 recipes last time - one with cocoa & 1 without, they will not be baked at the lower temp. for longer. I had some uncooked bits...)

The grumble:my computer is getting slower by the day!

grumble number 2I am working on a document at work... The database that I use to make the document is a "living database" which means that the developer can & does make changes - on whatever schedule they like...They just made a change that effects my document. Can I "refresh" to get the new stuff?No, I have to open a dummy document & cut & paste the new stuff into my document. Which almost guarantees funky formatting issues. I am too far into my document to start over - but I have resorted to that in the past.

If you did not read the earlier post (I read from the top down, so I can easily see how that can happen.) Instead of light & dark, I am going for blue & yellow. I had started to pull darks for the quilt & 95% of the were blue, so...

I am doing the log cabin that is in the book "Quilts for Baby as easy as ABC" by Ursula Reikes. (If you click on the link, you can see it - it looks like as "S.") Oh, & I can not recommend any of her books enough! Just add more blocks to make the quilts "big enough."

She & I make our log cabins all out of 2 inch strips - so the center is not bigger. So the first two pieces are both 2 inch squares.

So should I make 1 yellow & 1 blue? In my gut, the answer is "yes" but then I think about how many log cabins start with a red square... Then I say, "Well, using that logic, what would you put with blue & yellow?" Dunno?

So I am asking you...Blue & yellow for the center 2 squaresyellow & ______ (you fill in the blank.)Blue & _______ (You fill in the blank.)

If it helps, the "S" will be yellow. (I am 99% sure that the border will be a blue & yellow star print.) I am hoping that the back will be an ABC panel.

This is going to give my husband "Ammo" in the form of "When are you going to sew for the baby." (Quite odd since many in our circle don't buy a thing for the baby until after the delivery - old wives' tales aka "bubbe meises.")

But this is the new & improved quilt list for the baby & where they are...1. Rainbow Log Cabin (the one with the cats in the middles) at the long armers2. Heather Ross 9-patch - at the long armers3. Taupe Aleph-bet - at a the long armers4. Yellow bird - waiting for me to play with/figure out the shirring foot5. Kaffe Double 9-patch - waiting for me to be in the mood to cut & strip piece6. Scrappy Chinese Coins - I pulled the scraps & the "yardage" that I will cut from to create more scraps last night.7. Log Cabin - blue & yellow. It was going to be dark & light, but when I had pulled the darks - 95% of them were blue - so I went with blue & yellow. Why fight the muse.8. 100% flannel - DONE!9. The "Antique" applique with chenille that I purchased - DONE!

Sounds like the baby mama will be busy for a while, huh? (She at least "should be" busy for a while.)

I also need to get the RR X-ing quilt done to top stage...& I need to finish a top for a friend that I have been ignoring for far too long...

I also found the Kaffe jelly roll last night. (I'll trim a bit of the ends for the Scrappy Chinese Coins.)

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

My only advice to you is if you see something on the internet (free quilt pattern, recipe, etc.) either dowload it or print it off, because Mr. Internet is cleaning up. (Didn't I just tell you that cleaning is overrated - don't do it.)

Case in point. Forever & a day on a quilt magazine website that shall remain nameless had a "free" downloadable pattern called "Stairway to Cat Heaven." it is no longer available for free on the internet - but you can buy it & they provide easy access to that retailer...

I have found other similar cases... So if you see it & you like it, it is not good enough to save the link. As I have just learned from experience.

Now I really need to go through those important papers. Husband recently cleaned out the filing cabinet - it was full of junk. & I recently purchased file folders. So now in addition to tax stuff, warranty stuff & other "keep this paperwork" stuff, I will be going through my printed recipes & printed quilt patterns/pulled out of magazines patterns.

I guess I should go through my e-mail folders and check some of those linky dinks too.

FYI I found out about the "Stairway to Cat Heaven" change while googling Chinese Coins. (There are several blocks in addition to the pattern that I want to use - one of which is on that quilt magazine website. It looks like the Milky Way block to me. Jinny Beyer & Quilter's Cache both have Chinese Coins that are not what I was expecting.)

Maybe I do want to cut light & dark strips... Luckily I only want to do a 6 block log cabin - so the strips would be 2 inches... & there would not need to be that many of them... & I have that Marti Michell log cabin ruler & I know exactly where it is!

I had an OB appointment yesterday afternoon. Everything looks fine. (I added a "ticker" to the bottom of my page & made a few other changes.) The Rx for the heartburn has made a WORLD of difference. I got a script to have the gestational diabetes screening - I hear that that is a "fun" experience...

Cleaning/reorganizing is a horrid idea - don't do it.I was going to show you a "Faux Jelly Roll" of Kaffe prints with "lights" and with "Darks" to solicit opinions on which way to go for a log cabin quilt.

Until I started to make room for the baby furniture, I knew exactly where thay Jelly Roll was located - I was going to use it for Hanne's Summer Strip Challenge... Now I have NO idea where it is located. & the thought of stripping lights & darks for the log cabin is not rating very high on my list of "want to do's". (Although stripping them at 1.5 or 2 inches wide sounds more pleasing than the 2.5 inches that are the width of a jelly roll - maybe this is a good think in disguise. No, because I wanted to use those Kaffe scraps in the Chinese Coins quilt...)

I was also going to audition the ALQS2 top with double pink borders.... (I know where the pinks are - I haven't put them away yet.) But when I could not find the number 1 item - I never quite got on to number 2.

I do know where my supplies for the RR quilt are located - thankfully! (I just need to get going on that project.)

I know where my new fancy foot it for the baby quilt, but the booklet explaining just how to use it has been misplaced - that is what I get for deciding to look at the book before deciding to do the sewing. I think I know how to do it & I have scraps to give it a dry run. What is it? Shirring.

Yesterday I googled Bargello quilts - lots of neat stuff out there on that subject too. I am ruminating on what to google today - maybe I will decide after I read my bloglines & browse through flickr.

Chinese Coins is ranking pretty high on my list right now. (But I better find that Kaffe jelly roll first!)

Does anyone else google a quilt type - for inspiration/blog fodder?

Oh anyone know about grouply? Sounds pretty awful - the bits that I have heard... (I want to know more, but I do not want to investigate.)

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

(You may have noticed the P.S. added to the previous post.)Turns out I have liked that quilt designer for quite a while & never knew it...I have been viewing eye candy at "All People Quilt.com" (I have a subscription to one of their magazines & regularly buy another off of the newsstand) and saw this on that quilt designer: Past Projects.Off hand I really like 4 or 5 of those designs. One of which, I ran to the store to find blue & white batiks so I could make my own version - but alas blue & white batiks were not to be had.

As I was browsing through one of those magazines last night, I saw this quilt... I then pulled out one of my CW UFO's & played with it a little - saying, "You really should cut out the background & make this into a top."

Oh & I am so loving the Chinese Coins pattern...

The only thing that I can say in me Dandylion defense is that I have not actually "started" on a lot of my "want to do's" recently. I am really trying hard to finish piecing the RR X-ing quilt & to work on stuff for the Kitten. New on my Kitten list - a small as in only a few blocks - log cabin vs. a ton of tiny blocks. Why a log cabin all of a sudden - well I was looking at my quilt books again & my muse was inspired. What can I say? (I plan to make it with 100% stash fabrics!) Do you think the Kitten would like a Chinese Coins Quilt? (not using the CW palette...)

I just saw this on flickr & I haven't had a photo of a quilt up in a while. I always like bargello quilts - I tried to make one - not for me... I really like the appliqued border on this one...

But the bargello that I remember most, I saw at the quilt museum in Bird in hand Pennsylvania. The top 1/3 and the bottom 1/3 were all white - so the bargello was only in the middle - it was so striking!

A friend of mine has made quite a few of these, but she picks out bits & replaces them with other fabrics - I'll have to get a picture of one - it is hard to describe in words.

Any of you bloggers made a bargello? Post it & tell me to come look at it! Anyone else like me & just like to look at them?

P.S. FYI here is a different shot at "All People Quilt.com" of the same quilt with credit given to the quilter.

Monday, August 25, 2008

This morning I boldly stated that I would google on this subject for ideas.Since I found this "tutorial" on the subject, I decided to share.So that you too can make a postage stamp quilt. FYI this is my very long term project. But I think that mine will alternate color with Kona Snow. Or Joann's cheap muslin - just not WOW or trying to do light & not-light. I'd rather just not use lights that to deal with that hassel. Oh & I think that It will grow by 16 patch until it gets to be "big enough." I am relishing the idea of mixing oldies, uglies, & newbies in with fussy cuts, bias cuts, & why did I make that cuts. My squares will be cut at 1.5 inches square.

FYI, Yes, I know that Gypsy Quilter just made one of these using hand dyeds (mine will include hand dyed scraps too.) & I also know that Jeanne is also revisiting this subject. All I can say is, "Great Minds Think Alike."

Funny thing that you can only learn through googling & actually looking at the different pages. The definition of a quilt pattern is fairly diverse. I have seen Trip Around the World called Postage Stamp Quilt as well as others that do not fit with "my" definition (like a 9-patch quilt). But it has been that way since the begining of quilt making. Case in point, in the 1930's my great grandmother made a Drunkards Path quilt. The tee-totalers (anti-drinking people) called the same pattern Patience Knot - I think.

This is my aim - although maybe not on-point. Funny this one is also called checkerboard. It is part of the DAR collection - wonder if I could make plans to see it in person... (One of those plans that I would make if I were to take a vacation to Washington DC, but as a "resident" probably not...)

Not quite sure how my googling got me here. When I was "into" that type of quilt, I toured this site regularly. My own feeble attempt is 1 block shy of being "done" (with the blocks). I still have books & grandiose plans to do one or two more - now that is funny considering that my first one is languishing.

A very simple version can be seen here - but the scalloped border is so sweet.

All of that & I have no definitive answer to me border question... Oh well, it was fun to look.

The magic number (from the last post) 100! It is so hard to believe that I could generate 100 different CW & shirting charms (all from my stash). Especially considering the fact that I gave away a lot of them earlier & I did not break into the pink/brown bundle & I did not go through the scraps from that large pink quilt that I shared early last week - there were/are double pinks in there as well.

The top is pieced. I am now "thinking about" borders. (I'm going to google charm/postage stamp quilts to see what our foremothers did.)

Once again I am feeling, "Is it big enough?" Yes, then you don't need a border.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

A day later (or less) and that pile of fabric is now cut into a pile of charms. :o)

For those of you with keen eyesight, yes, that is a dog. (There aren't any cats in this group of fabrics, but there is a dog.)

Don't tell Bonnie, but you may see some "ick greens." Wait a minute, CW fans do not call it "Ick" green - I think they call it poison green. Back before blogger, we were on stashbusters together & she used that green & I so did not care for it. Now you can find it in my stash. (I think that they & the chrome yellows really enhance scrappy quilts.) I also used the chrome yellows in my blue & yellow scrappy quilts. All yellows are o.k. for those projects.

Any guesses on how many charms are in those piles? (They are even - that is your only hint.) Oh & there are no duplicates.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Once upon a time ago, this collection was a lot larger. I sent a bunch of these off so that they would actually be used, instead of being looked at on my shelf. (I live in an area where a lot of Civil War battles took place & I have been to several of them & always think - I should make a CW quilt. Hence the collection.)

So why am I sharing these now? (& not one of 2 or 3 CW UFO's?)

My early assumption about what my ALQS2 partner would like was in a word, WRONG. Luckily I kept a few of these. They are more her style. :o)

BTW the shirtings on the top are not your everyday shirtings - like the ones on the bottom & I love to get those charm packs. There are several charm/super scrappy quilts living in me!

Sorry Paul Harvey... (I really enjoyed your radio show when I was lucky enough to catch it.)

Izzy left a comment - she also sent me the same message in another e-mail.

To begin, I have to disagree about her statement not being anti-semitic. Any excuses/rationales will not change that. Seriously are there any "typical complainers?" I live in the real world where people protest about all kinds of things - war, the environment, politics, eating meat, gay marriage, door to door seller or proselytizers, etc. I don't complain about many things - as a matter of fact, my stance on many things is that if it is not illegal & you are not hurting anyone else - who am I to say anything about it?

More to the point, I put the statement in full text on my blog & no one disagreed with me.

My abbreviated response - for the full story:

Were you expecting bloggers/quilters/jews/people to be like stepford wives, happy all the time? Sorry I live in the real world where "people" of all stripes "protest" everything. Protest being a form of complaining. I went on to talk about my lack of complaining while dealing with infertility in general. & stated again that I am disappointed that all of the extra effort that we had to go through to have a baby that I will only have a small amount of time with that baby.

I also stated that I don't complain daily about everything...

Would a "typical complainer" complain non-stop? Maybe, I know some people who are fairly gloomy on a regular basis.

Sorry, I have not figured out how to cut & paste into blogger on my MAC.

I promise that this is the end of this subject. This is a quilt blog. Just happens that this quilter is pregnant & lives with 2 cats... So that means that I will talk about, praise, & complain about that stuff.

To make this quilty - If I were more of a perfectionist quilter who liked "hard" patterns, I would be continually negative about my horrible seams & even more so about my "pressing." I have "ruined" more that my fair share of block units through poor pressing. So much so, I cut large & trim down afterwards.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Thanks for all of the lovely comments yesterday. Yes, we all have a lot to be thankful for. We are not in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. Those of us who are not in Florida are not dealing with Fay, etc. & Hey I guess the fact that I have a TV with cable is a nice thing too.

But I really must thank izzy for reminding me that Anti-Semitism is alive and well...you are just an ungrateful , bitter complainer......................no wonder God dealt so harshly with your kind in the old test. even saving you from egypt yall complained ...."izzy" imrenbjor@comcast.net

Thursday, August 21, 2008

What a great way to start the day, eh?1. I am disappointed that I will only have 48 days to take off to be with the kitten. (Not including weekends or Federal Holidays.) Which means if I give birth in early December, I'll only be out until mid-February.2. I am disappointed that I only sewed a few units together last night. (I had two lap seekers who did not cooperate with the sewing plan at all. - Nor did they cooperate with the photographing.)3. I am disappointed that the part of the Olympics that I wanted to see started at 11 p.m. & I have been crashing at 8:30/9 o'clock every night. Oh, I am also disappointed with how much time NBC spent on a few sports/athletes...4. I am disappointed by the tone of the political ads that I so luckily got to see while I was trying to watch the Olympics. So much so that I pretty much gave up on trying to watch the Olympics. I fell asleep during the Naked Archaeologist last night - he is on the History Channel - or a derrivative thereof. (History International I think.)Now I feel like I should have a gratitude list... (But I am feeling a bit glum, so I will not go through that exercise as it will be half-hearted any way & that is not the point.)

Happy Thursday. (Ack, I just caught myself wishing for the weekend...)

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Why when I have all of the pieces and parts pressed & ready for the next sewing step do I not sit down & sew?

Well last night it is because I made a super great salad for dinner. Not that that took very long...I roughly followed a recipe from Self magazine (found it online - following a linky dink...)I did not pay much attention to ratios & measurements...Cubed Turkey (I had the deli guy give me a 1/2 inch thick slice - I cubed it at home after that.)Diced Tomato (I think the recipe called for halved cherry tomatoes - I used what we had from the CSA) one red, one yellowCorn - I went with what Libby told me would work & used it raw straight off the cob. (I cut it off with a knife right into the bowl) I used 2 ears.Black Beans - the canned kind rinsed (I used a whole can)Diced Onion - The recipe called for red - I have yellow on handCucumber - peeled & diced (This was not in the recipe - but they had green pepper diced & I skipped that ingredient)They had a dressing recipe as well, but I did my own thing...Apple Cider Vinegarfreshly cracked mixed pepper cornsHerbs d'ProvenceOlive oilI basically mixed the first three & then added in the oil while whicking the vinegar mixture. Oh & I used Herbs d'Provence, because I had it (Picked it up at Penzy's with no idea as to how I would use it) & because I found that before the Italian seasoning... (I wanted a mix, instead of a little basil, little parsley, little dill....)I did not add salt, because Kosher turkey is already salted & the kind in the deli seems to be even more salty.Served on a bed of Arugula.I am sure that if you are vegan, that this would work just eliminate the turkey. & if you don't keep kosher, you could add cheese cubes... I think that a diced hard boiled egg could easily be added as well...

That still left a lot of evening to _____ (Sew, sleep, play with the cats, clean the stewdio, watch TV, think about trimming for the ALQS2) Since one of my pills is the "makes you sleepy" kind, I watched TV until about 8:30, then drifted off to sleep.

SHould I go back to "goal" writing. As in my goal for tonight is to sew those units into blocks. Well, Hopefully tomorrow I can say that I did it. (We are having left over salad for dinner...)

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

I was reading posts & commented on this post. (Don't tell my cats that I am looking at other cats. RB had to defend his territory, through the safety of the sliding glass door, last night!)

Which led to a bit of chatter... (not the cat quarrel, the comment.)

Then I got my ALQS2 partner... Any guesses as to her style? Needless to say I could give Cathi a very definitive answer on what country is...

This is where having a cat fabric stash comes in handy. I knew some of them were in the country tones. Also I have a bag of reds waiting to become an all red courthouse steps quilt - some of those are country as well. As were some of the darker greens in the pink quilt that I shared yesterday. I have creams & while most of my blues are not country perse, I knew some of them would fit.Here is what I pulled from my stash (without digging deep).Then I remembered the fabrics that I was going to start cutting on Sunday - included scraps from Finn - some of those definately are country.Take a look at the sorting of some of those: Have I not told you what a big helper he is... (FYI The scraps that I pulled for my partner are safely away in a zippered plastic bag. Theses are mine & the photo is staged, because the camera was not handy when he first made this display.)

I think that Cathi & I are going to race to see who finished first as country is not what either of us would choose to work with... (Which is code for "could easily be set aside." Like the faux log cabin that I need to finish for my GF before the kitten arrives.)

The best part - I know EXACTLY what I am going to do! Just need to start trimming & sewing.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Not to be confused with: The era marked by political aspiration towards governmental consolidation, nation-creation and greater rights for common people, attempting to supplant the arbitrary authority of aristocracy and established churches. (Not unlike McSame, All I know about the Enlightenment, I learned from Wikipedia.)

Rather: the understanding that while on an Rx that says "this will make you sleepy" (in doctor speak of course) you can not stay up until 11 p.m. & beyond to watch the Olympics. Therefore, you also can not be stitching on binding.

Which of course is the long way of saying that I am still working on binding number 2 of 6 quilts.

On the other hand, I did press all I set out to press yesterday! YIPPEE! Now I can do some more piecing on the RR X-ing quilt. & I can try out shirring for the baby's quilt.

& When I got home I pieced 2 backs! (One of the tops is below.) Now I have about 5 quilts ready to send out for long-arming. Reason number 1 why I should not be buying anymore fabric! Reason number 2 - my list of UFO's, WIP's, PIG's, etc.

I give up...I am 99.9% sure that Finn shared a photo of her friends quilt that they were basting. It was the cover quilt from the April 2006 American Patchwork & Quilting magazine done in different colors (More "my colors" than the one on the cover.) So why did I do mine exactly like the one on the cover? I am not sure, but that happens to me on occasion - I see a quilt done "this way" & that is the only way that I can see to do the pattern. So I make mine the same way... (In this case, that is a good thing, because I obviously had too many pinks!)Here is mine (or half of it): (I took the photo during sew-n-tell & cropped it to remove the tables...) I really like the built in border. The back is mostly a Lakehouse Hydrangea print.Unlike the magazine version, I included hot pink along with the CW double pinks & other assorted pinks, but it is pretty much the same a quilt as the one on the cover of the magazine.Finn's friend's version had yellow backgrounds with blues & greens for the darks.Here is my buddy, RB, helping out:My girl on the other hand scooted around the edges.

P.S. - back when I pulled the fabrics to make this quilt, they all came from my stash! No fabrics were purchased in the making of this quilt!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

ThinkingOnce upon a time ago in the land of blogger (wordpress, typepad, etc.) there were blog rings... There were a few free tutorials and quilt patterns.Then there were giveaways - for number of posts or for blogiversaries or for "I need to get rid of stuff." Des anyone know when the freebees started to happen? Why? Is there a list of common mile stones? Is the gift that you give for your first blogiversary listed somewhere - it has been a while since I have been to a Hallmark store - where they have lists for first anniversary gifts... What about the gift that you give once you hit post number "X?"

I am wondering because I am nearing 1,000 posts... & in November it will be my 3rd year blogiversary... I wonder because I see give aways for 100 posts & 1 year blogiversaries... I completely passed those opportunities up - because I grew up in blogger.2 - we must be in blogger.3 or .4 by now & maybe these rules cropped up in one of these upgrades... (FYI quite a few of those who grew up in blogger.1 are now published authors... I missed that opportunity too - but then again, I am not inventing anything new nor am I putting my spin on things... I don't care for the learning from mistakes school of thought... & My inner child likes patterns...)

PreparingIf it is the third Sunday - it is sew-n-tell day! I knew that I was not dragging my sewing machine out today, so I had to decide what I would bring to work on...1. Binding on the second of 6 Olympics quilts... (I may have over-stated how many of those I could do in 2 weeks time - with a full time job...)2. Cutting for a postage stamp quilt. I have had a pile of scraps around for quite a while waiting patiently to become 1.5 inch squares... I have the mini mat & mini cutter - maybe today is the day that I start cutting for that project.3. Pressing - I need to press the RR X-ing quilt units. I need to press the borders for a quilt for my baby.4. Cooking/baking - I baked a cake last night - we have no frosting & I did not feel like making it from scratch... Gazpacho - I have been craving soup - hopfully that will satisfy me & hopefully I will find a nice artesan bread to go with it.

I hope that your weekend is productive. (& I hope that I will have some photos to share tomorrow!)

Friday, August 15, 2008

Welcome to my world (from a mom blog - you've been warned.) child care. (I am one of the ones that she is talking about... You probably guessed that though, huh?) Since I admitted to some of my granola tendencies earlier (Cloth diapers...) I might as well admit that we have bi-lingual plans in the works - husband is fluent in 2 languages, so he has been tasked to talk to the baby in the non-dominant language, he has even started practicing on the cats... (I talk baby talk too them too - praising them for eating their cat food, etc.)

Oh & Since I work in a science based area (Not me personally, but I am surrounded by science folk), I talked with a guy who used to do ASL interpretation. He knows a lot about language development. He said that when the baby/toddler

(Not sure when the idiot box will be introduced... I have feelings both ways... We watch it, the child will know this, so how can we not allow it... I don't like what Kiddy TV has become - do you think I can get some circa 1970's Sesame Street? I can go on...)

is exposed to the telly, to have the closed captions on - studies have shown that it helps with language & reading. (The same theory behind "Leap frog." Without spending oodles on talking books... I think that reading time should be quiet time, showing pictures asking about the pictures, etc.)

Quilting this & that -

There is an interesting question being posed by The Calico Quilter - do go take a look & share your response - one way or the other. My very long & rambling answer is in the comments...

It's fun to see the "fungly" quilts, but it is funner to realize that that is not for me & that I can/should/am using my sewing time on stuff better suited to me, rather than joining in for the sake of joining in... Ditto the quilt-alongs & mystery quilts that many generous bloggers are sharing out there! Heck, I don't even have/use the time to do the stuff that I want to do! If I shared my "want to do" list, my "I have a bundle of fabric for this quilt" list, my "UFO" list, my "WIP" list, you'd have to agree with me...

Speaking of those lists as I clean out the stewdio 1/3 of the baby/stewdio room (O.K. all of you who fell on the floor from the laughter, can rejoin the thoughts here...) I should reevaluate those lists - start new ones - think about why I stalled - or never got past bundling pretty fabrics together...

One quilt that had been on my "I have a bundle of fabric for this quilt" list is the RR X-ing quilt - I have sewed up to the point where I need to press them - just in time for my mini-group meeting on Sunday. (I do not plan on taking my sewing machine, so I have things to press, to cut & to do hand work on instead.)

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend... (Is it quitting time yet? All this thinking about quilting has me "itchin to stitch!")

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

First - I made the black & batik block last night - YAY!Second - I have not thought about binding for 2 or 3 days now - BOO!Third - we interviewed a pediatrician (Actually one of the nurses in the office of several pediatricians) How the heck do you make that kind of choice? ACK!Fourth - we went to the fair.Here is a sampling of what we saw (or at least what I chose to photograph - or what was easily photographable):

This little boy was less than a day old... AWWWWWW baby duckies - AWWWWWWWe also went into several animal barns... But I like the babies. & a photo of Foghorn (The Leghorn Rooster) is not that impressive with him in a cage... Ditto the bunnies... Most of the quilts are displayed like this... I really liked the diamond quilt & I plan on making that star quilt - just haven't quite figured out the fabrics... I kind of like this one with all "dark" prints. I also like them when the background for the star is white... I have some fabric pulled for this project - but I vasciliate on whether that is really the look that I want... So this is becoming an easy-peasy project with an indefinate delivery date!back to the fair: The rest were displayed like this - depending on where in the rafters they were depended on how they photographed... You see this pattern a lot in my area as there is a well known teacher who teaches this a lot! (I even have one - that is quilted & bound!) Love the black & brights... The big winner at our county fair. 99% sure that this is the same quilt at Hershey - where I think that it did well.

I almost forgot that I did a tiny bit on the RR X-ing quilt - while working on that black & batik block.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

If the directiosn were "black background," which would you choose? I am leaning towards the one on the botton in the far left position. It seems to be the blackest (Although I think that it too has a slight pattern to it.).

Monday, August 11, 2008

The three drawer chest that we only got because it "goes" and because it was part of the floor model sale. The mirror will be hung above it. (If you go to flickr - there are notes explaining the other stuff that you may see... If you don't see anything extraneous - thatnk you very much, your mom taught you well.) The bureau scarf is vintage - purchased at a yard sale. It was cats on a bicycle built for two. Give yourself a cookie if you can sing that tune!

The combination hutch. Ditto the flickr notes... But a quick run down of some of the things that you can see bum genuis cloth diapers - the all-in-ones (You did not know that you were dealing with a granola girl did you.) There are also cloth diaper wipes (If would only be a tiny bit hypocritical to use disposeable wipes with cloth diapers, no... besides I was not thrilled with the alcohol that is in most of those packages...) & Bum genius bottom cleaner & Diaper dust.

The crib with a breathable bumper pad. (notes in flickr...) I am very happy that I go the crib that is flush to the wall... All of the furniture is bigger that I remembered...

While Rhapsody was on my lap, RB was under the quilt... It was time for me to make Greek Stuffed Tomatoes, so I had to get up & wake sleeping beauty. Do you see his right ear? I call that sleepy cat ear. It does not get perky like a normal cat ear until he is wide awake.

Rhapsody like to be on top... It does not matter how cold it is, she will not burrow under the quilt. She was not thrilled with the idea of having her picture taken, but earlier int he day - when the photographer was not around - she fell asleep on my lap while I was binding - so I had to stop once I got to a point where I could not move the quilt anymore. Then I joined in on the napping festivities.

This quilt is just past 1/2 way bound. I have 3 corners done, but I still need to do 2 full sides. (I start near a corner - so I don't have to finish near a corner - one of my quirks I guess.)

Oh & the official tally for the number of quilts that need to be bound is 6 not 5 as I reported earlier - 1.5 of those are done.

First things first... This is the photo that I promised to show. You see, I was all set up to work on the binding & Mr. Man Cat decided that he needed to burrow under. (His favorite place! Until Rhapsody sees him moving, then she has to attack!) If he looks half asleep - that is because I woke hime up to take this picture, since I could not move the quilt any more to work on the binding.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

1. The furniture was delivered & it takes up about 1/3 to 1/2 more space that I thought it would... (I think that that is ALWAYS the way it works.) Except that I have very good spatial sense. If I have a pile of items to put into a truck - I can figure out how to make them fit without a whole lot of wasted space ot trial & error. It looks great & I hope to get photographs later today. Very preliminary photos - our yellow sheets are on order, the mirror & other wall art (quilts) are not installed as of yet, etc.

2. The grumble. So I got my Keepsake Quilting catalog. I love to look.... (Yes, I make wish lists, but I love it when I can say EWWW I am so not interested in that!) So I was looking more at the baby stuff than I had in the past... Minky - $8 - hey that is not bad at all... (I have this thought about babies being tactile, so I want to provice lots of touchy things...) I even think about the fact that after I saw the cutest minky applique on flickr, that I looked at what was available at G-Street (notoriously over priced) & saw a nice brown - aww cute kitty ran through my head, but I could not spend $20 per yard (yet). Then we went to a baby store to purchase the mattress & looked at those "designer" quilts that use minky... SO I went home to look again & probably purchase the minky... The I realize that unlike most of thoe other things in their catalog, the Minly is priced per 1/2 yard... SNEAKY...

3. Olympics quilting.I can not sew & watch - so I had to sew during volley ball, fencing, rowing, beach volley ball, swimming, & the road race. I finished the binding on one quilt & started on the next. (Granted I finished the smallest one, but they all count! I hope that I can do all 5 during this 17 day stretch.) Even with my big helper - I forgot to take the photo off of the camera... But it is really cute & I'll share it soon!

1. Why do you quilt? I quilt because I am. (I like to play with color & texture, & design.)2. How long have you been quilting? Since about 2000. I think that I started right after the Y2K charm phase. I had to purchase a set of charms - big mistake - I could make 2000 charms out of my stash instead. BUT I love some of those funky prints that I got.3. What made you start quilting? I just decided that I wanted to do something "else." I had been a cross- stitcher.4. What sewing machine do you use mostly for piecing? A Pfaff (mid-level - quilters edition.)5. What machine do you use mostly for quilting? I hire a long armer...6. If you could have any sewing machine you want — money isn’t an issue — just get anything you want . . what would you get? A long arm - probably the Gamill with the Statler Stitcher.7. When you buy a sewing machine, how long do you expect you’ll keep it? For ever8. On a scale of 1 - 10, how much do you love your stash? Part of is are a definate 11! Other parts, not so much, but I have culled some & plan to cull some more - after I do my red log cabin for example...9. Why do you have the stash? I have a stash because when I started, I wanted to make a scrappy blue & yellow quilt. Yellows were few & far between to find in the stores. But the gals in my guild had yellows... Click, I need to save yellows, so that I can make another blue & yellow quilt... & Then I wanted to make a cat charm quilt - You have to buy a pretty big piece of fabric - even if they are all fat quarters - for a charm... Then I wanted to play with Japanese taupes - by now I learned the value of value so one year I concentrated on getting lights, the next year - dark darks... (Now I may be ready to owrk on my double X quilt...) I think that my stash is medium, but used - I have seen quite a few stashes that are huge in comparison to mine & rather unused...10. When we talk about “stashbusting”, what are your thoughts? In the begining I was all on board the "use it up." bandwagon, but now I am just interested in buying less (Not to be confused with not buying at all) & using more. (Although I am not about to actually verify that concept that tracking the in and outs of it all.)

Saturday, August 09, 2008

My sumer quilt arrived today & I love it. I also got 2 melkejokolade bars - I don't know Norwegian, but even I know that that is Milk Chocolate! I need to save them long enough to show the lady in my office building who drives a car that has a "Sons of Norway" license plate... She'll get a kick out of it

Friday, August 08, 2008

BUT I have to blame Vicki for the increase in my bloglines. She keeps having post like this one. (Thanks for the mention.) So I get to look at new to me blogs as well as old favorites! Most of the new to me ones get added to my bloglines. Oh well life is too short to worry about how many bloglines you have.

I baked the blueberry buckle - YUM (& I was lucky to get any ice cream...) I am even having some with my lunch.

I would now like to show & tell about my sewing, but alas - there was none to be had last night.

Tonight on the other hand, I will be doing hand work.

I just went to Yahoo & jotted down on my calendar the dates & times for the stuff that I like to watch. (I watch a whole lot more, but there are some things that I prefer to watch over others.) Heads up to the other watchers out there - Oxygen network will have recaps most nights between 6 & 8 - so if you have that chanel, that might be your best bet for viewing. (A lot of stuff is scheduled for "o dark thirty"! (Those did not even make it onto my calendar.)

While waiting for the baby furniture delivery tomorrow (& while they are assembling it), I hope to do some more sewing... Then we need to go buy a mattress & maybe some linens - buttery yellow is the goal in the linens arena.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

O.K. between Mary & Nancy (so far) I am now feeling motivated to do hand work while watching the Olympics!

If I admit how many quilts with attached binding that "JUST" need the hand finishing - I just might have to crawl under a rock in embarrassment...

5 off the top of my head & they are mostly BIG - as in one of them is easily KING size with an overhang (Jacob's Ladder), Cat charm, Wedding signatures, Kaffe Look Alike, & Holly's cat quilt are the others. (I could linke to them, but I am saving the linky love for later in this post.)

Inspiration from a New to Me blog. I just came across this blog (I saw their book on flickr - the subtitle intrigued me, so I googled it & found the blog.) & I LOVE what they are doing with hexagons. Do take a look at Material Obsessions. Do you see how they have been fussy cutting them? TOO COOL! (Now that is a doable project for my next life time.)

What I have & have not been working on:I have been working on the RR X-ing quilt as a leader ender project.I have not been working on the back for the batik bricks quilt.I have been working one my applique quilt.I have not made my blueberry buckle - yet. (I want to eat it with a scoop of ice cream, but I keep missing the intermediate step...)

Here are some photos of the applique quilt: I got them all laid out & my big helper decided that he had a better arrangement. So I laid them out again - & shooed him away long enough for me to get a photo & barely long enough to get them sewn in the correct order. Since there are 7 blocks in a row, I was able to do some leader endering on this one... I wanted to get a whole row sewn before moving on to the next row. The star fabrics I got from Quilt Otaku. I also used them in this quilt. I started the applique quilt while working on this gift quilt. (Yes, that gift quilt was delivered in DECEMBER - but I machine button holed those letters, these I did by hand. Yes, If I did just one block a day, I could have been finished - a long time ago... Thanks for reminding me.) You see I had the taupe fabrics out & I was cutting the letters - so I cut Taupe letters...Here is the top: With the helper cat... & without. I am happy with 99% of my fabric choices. The lights are all "spot on!" once or two of those letters are a bit light...I also pieced the back & binding last night, they will both be the same fabric as that of the narrow inner border.

So while I did not piece the back for the batik bricks quilt, I am happy with what I did accomplish.

Goals for tonight:1. Make blueberry buckle & eat some piping hot with vanilla ice cream!2. Work in the back for the batik bricks quilt3. Work on the RR X-ing quilt.

Oh & I have to report that I am quite giddy that while I have all of my fabrics picked out & the pattern found for my Bento Box quilt - I have not started on it! (& the cutting table is clear!) Insead I have been working on stuff that I had already started! YAY, she may have turned a corner... Oh & I got the Hancock's of Paducah catalog & with the exception of 1 page, I am not terribly tempted. That is not to say, that I could not buy more, but I am not tempted... YAY!

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

I'll start with a photo of an oldie but goodie quilt:I used a book on 9-patches to make this quilt (I think the Author is Marti Michell.) This was one of the first quilts that I had Judy quilt for me. The back is a less than successful top - can you say no value differences... It is 3 pieces of light fabric! Oh & this top came from the "Choose one print & them pull fabrics to go with it" school of thought. While I love scrappy quilts, I think that plan was best for this quilt. Oh & I remember buying that main print. I must have had a tiny bit of fabric shopping experience under by belt by then because I finished the bolt & have not looked back on that purchase! (I have the same print in blue on cream and blue on white.) Earlier in my shopping experiences, I only got a tiny bit of Alexander Henry's Siamese cats & I have been sad about that decision for a LONG time. (I was fleetingly happy when Keepsake "found" a bolt & had it in their sale section of the catalog. I made up for my earlier skimpy purchase!)

I already mentioned that I joined in on the Another Little Quilt Swap for round 2 (The Quilter has too.) here is a note on sign-ups... In case you are interested.

FYI I know that it is only 6 a.m., but it was too hard to find "the quilter" in my bloglines... Which are supposedly in ABC order... I guess the lower case confused my bloglines.

Goals - :o( Apparently if I eat dinner, then I do not sew... (Don't worry about my food intake, I nosh throughout the day.)

All I did was order my applique blocks... So I guess my goals for today are a ditto of yesterday.

Fried Potatoes... (I've seen them mentioned on one or two blogs recently, Finn's for one...)

I know a thing or two about fried potatoes. I am a couch potatoe at heart & do find myself watching the cooking shows on PBS including America's Test Kitchen. Their new go to method for frying potatoes is decpetively simple & perfect at the same time.

First wash & cut up your potatoes into wedges. Place them in a microwave safe bowl (Or those steam fresh bags) add salt & pepper & olive oil. microwave covered for about 4 minutes - shake up the potatoes & return for another 4 minutes of cooking in the microwave.

Near the end of the cooking cycle, add some olive oil into your skillet (non-stick worked best for me) and heat it on high. When the potatoes are done in the microwave, put them in the hot skillet cut side down (I turned down the heat at this point). Be careful of the splatter realted to the steam from the microwave cooking. When they are brown on one side, turn them to the other cut side to finish browning. when both sides are brown (not long) they are done. (The microwave does the actual cooking - the frying pan just crisps them up real good.)

Aside: While the potatoes were cooking in the microwave, I sauteed my onions. Once they were golden, I took them off the heat. I added them back to the pot once I was on the second cut side so that they could be warmed up again. Second lesson learned on ATK. This way the onions do not burn - I have burned a few in the past trying to cook both the potatoes & onions at the same time.

Fried potatoes go back in my family a long time... Usually in thin slices, so that they could actually cook through in the skillet (I think that my grandmother par boiled them...), this method works so my better!

Why do I know so much about fried potatoes - the kitten likes them a lot. (I made a dish that had potatoes, squash & a few other fried items - I picked out the potaotes for us... Hubby ate the rest.)

More food fun:Blueberries for breakfast - YUM, but I still need to make my blueberry buckle - while the carton of Ice Cream is still in the freezer...

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Goal 1: I sewed the borders onto my Surf & Sand quilt!I am so glad that I added the narrow inner border & I am glad that I allowed that big print enough space in the outer border. The backing is one of the prints from this line as well - so this will be a 100% matchy-matchy quilt.Here it was while I was sewing on a border..."I thought I was helping."

Goal 2: I decided that the batik bricks quilt was big enough without a border. (It has been languishing & I forgot just how big it is...)I liked it when I unfurled it...So did my helper. The "bricks" are 2.5 x 4.5 cut & on this quilt they are all batiks or hand-dyeds. The "Mortar" is 1.5 x 4.5 - on this quilt black batik. You sew the mortar to the bricks like a rail fence... Mine is set on point, so I have setting triangles too. This is an easy scrappy quilt. & more my style - I think... (I always say that I like scrappy... But there are more & more matchy-matchy quilts being made by me.)

I worked on the back for this quilt - but failed to get a photo... It is a bunch of batik blocks (I was "into" batiks.) that never quite got made into a top. Last night, I thought - add the sashing & make that top... I did not listen, I just sewed the blocks together & tonight I will add borders to make it big enough to be a back. I'll tell you more about those blocks when I show them... They have a "story."

I even did a small amount on the RR X-ing quilt.

One final shot:RB wanted to go to the long armer... (That black batik will be the binding for the bricks quilt & another quilt.)

Lets see: 2 goals set, 2 goals met! Now for a goal or two for tonight...1. Finish the back for the bricks quilt2. Piece the applique quilt together.3. Do some more piecing on the RR X-ing quilt.

Monday, August 04, 2008

Gosh I am awfully chatty this morning. (Too bad the people that I need to talk to are either not answering the phones are are not at work yet - can you imagine? I have been at work for several hours & people in California haven't even thought about it. That concept still boggles my mind when I think about it. But I liked that concept when we were on vacation in Australia as we were able to get up & enjoy the quiet of morning alone with the cappuchino machine...)

So why am I posting?

The good & the bad of being married to the son of a shop-a-holic.1. She is buying baby stuff (apparently, quite a bit of it). For the record, my father is too. Although they both want to know the gender. Too bad.2. What are they buying? (I wanna shop too & the idea of shopping for a mattress is less than appealing - I'm just saying.)3. How do you stear them towards buying what you want them to buy? (Instead of what they want to buy - or the kinds of stuff that other people will probably be buying.)

I officially signed up for the "Another Little Quilt Swap" round two. (It is in the pre-sign up phase right now.) See what we did in round one. I love the way Kate posted quilts as they moved about & how she did this retrospective.

I figure I have 1 more swap quilt in me... (I am open to the thought of 1 to 1 swaps - I want the quilt wall to be eclectic & honestly, I don't do some styles...)

A baby room reveal should be taking place in a week - but it will only be a preliminary reveal - a taste if you will. (I will not have any quilts hung & I doubt that the cork board or mirror will be hung either. Oh & I have to buy the "picture" that I want...)

My sewing for the weekend.Once upon a time ago, each of those blocks was going to be a different Heather Ross print, but the print on whites were not play well with the white background. So I started with the Hot pink inthe center & went from there - although obviously I did not make all of the prints "go with" that one. I like that it is definately gender neutral. (Orange, green, yellow, geometric, with a sprinkling of blue & pink.) The only "problem" it ended up bigger that i though it would... Now it is "big enough" but I am not sure about adding the borders now.

Would you add borders?

Plain white was my original idea, but then again in my original idea, this would have been hand quilted. I am now thinking that this is a good size for my faux minkie back - which would change the qulting plan from "old fashioned small stitches in thread" to big stitches made with perle cotton. (I am thinking hearts in the white squares. SID around the large squares in the 9-patches.)

I also finished my hand button holing - that is also a quilt for the baby. One that I never thought about hand quilting since I used fusible web for the appliques. (It was a chore to do the button holing!)

I worked on the Railroad Crossing quilt kind of as a Leader Ender. (If that is what I was doing, I think that the way i piece is not so conducive to leader endering. With this quilt, I did 24 seams (blocks to squares) & then did 1 RR X-ing seam. I then did the 2 pairs in the top row & the two pairs int he second row, once Idid the second row, i snipped off the first set & added the third pair, etc. So I did not get to so a RR X-ing seam until near the very end. Does that make sense? Is that how leader- ender sewing works? (I have a RR X-ing seam in the machine as we speak.)

I baked the "mixed bread" muffins (no loaf pan to be found in my pantry... I thought that I had a pyrex one...) Yum.

I also crock potted some beef ribs (Flanken), but once they were done we were not hungry - so they are in the fridge for tonight. They smelled good & fell off the bones nicely. & We will be having corn! (I need to try out Libby's corn soufle recipe - we have that much corn!)

As you can see, I have not folded up my new quilt yet. Here is my girl. She stayed there when we got home from the cat litter store & the "farm stand." Usually they both scamper to the door imploring us for cat food. RB was happy in the sunshine & as you can see Rhapsody was happy on the quilt. (She did not even come over for a lap - right away...)

Sunday, August 03, 2008

In the CSA this week, we got a cantaloupe, some corn, some tomatoes, some squash, a cucumber, some peaches, some plums & I passed on eggplant & bell pepper.

I started to sew the alternating squares to the 9-patch blocks, but then it was time for dinner & then I was not "in the mood" to sew after dinner.

Bigger...I got the "Big" cheezits - I immediately wanted the smaller ones. I would even like to see mini ones. Like they have mini-pastas - I want those so much more that jumbo shells - unless I am stuffing them with cheesy goodness! Please remind me that although "Big Cheezits" sound like a neat idea, I don't care for them in reality.

Not much else going on this weekend... (But that baby room is ready - YIPPEE!)

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Caveat, my husband & I eat pasta for dinner a lot. (It is easy & available & there is nothing to thaw first.)

We occasionally saute squash & add it to the mix or even frozen sausage - the kind that you don't thaw first.

More often than not we add canned mushrooms.

The reason why this has come up is that Gypsy Quilter just shared a "free" sauce offer. For Bertoli (I think). Which made me say, that's nice but we only eat Paul Newman's sauce. Which made me think, "Anyone else out there use only one brand of sauce?"

(Our excuse - dietary restrictions mixed with taste - his tastes best to us out of the ones that we can eat.)

No "Pepsi Challenge" was used in this study of ours & we probably did not exhaust all of the options out there. It was more like - that tastes good, that will be the brand that we buy. (Oh by the way when it landed at "Big Lots" I bought A LOT! It was at most 1/2 the price as it is in the supermarket. We recently got some at a big box store that shall remain nameless also at just over 1/2 the supermarket price - so we stocked up again.)

Once or twice I have made the pasta sauce from scratch - not worth the time & effort - maybe that is a symptom of growing up on jarred sauce...

The baby's room is officially ready for furniture! We moved everything out of that portion of the room & vacuumed. Now to go through some of those boxes & bags to see how much more I can cull. Honestly, it has been sitting around for more that a year... Maybe this is the impetus...

At any rate it feels good to have the space open & ready for the delivery & set-up.

Friday, August 01, 2008

Wow, now that was fun. (I needed some mindless quilt viewing.) If you like to look at quilts & want to see an impressive collection, check out The Quilt Index. There are more that 1800 quilt pictures to look at.

I clicked on "view entire index." When I wanted to see the quilt better, I clicked on the picture, then I clicked on: "See full record" - that usually did the trick.

I actually did some cutting & some sewing last night & this morning.I cut the white parts of these blocks (my goal) & I cut the alternating solid white squares & borders while I was at it. I then decided to sew on these since I wanted 2 fabric blocks & everything was thusly organized.

I sewed a tiny bit on the Railroad Crossing quilt & I did the buttonhole applique on one block as well.

I need help in realizing that I can not place my values onto others...

You see, I "expect" a Thank You note for the wedding gift that I gave in December. Especially before the couple goes on Summer vacation to Guatemala. I guess to my way of thinking if you have the time to travel, you should have the time to pen a note. (I gave her slack earlier when I thought that she was up at all hours writing lesson plans...)

That is an example in my "real" life.

Then in my Blogging life I read something that seems awfully selfish to me (in a bad way, not in an I ate the whole tub of ice cream without sharing way). I unsubscribed, I was so "upset" by what I read. I actually shed a tear over that choice. When I left the blog I had to remind myself to think, "You can not place your values onto someone else." Here I am an hour later writing about it, so I really do need to work on acting on my thoughts... I mean, some people may find it selfish the amount of time that I devote to my hobby - going to quilt shows, etc. Our ideas are all different...

I also read about a blogger who is stepping away from blogging - after reading about one of her favorite bloggers moving into her area with preconceived notions about what to expect & then lamenting about how they are "true" and missing "home." So I am not the only one who places my values onto someone else (Just about every elected official does this in one way or another - in my county, hard liquor is sold by the County Government & it is not sold on Sunday!).

Oh & all of the opinions/values associated with child birth - ACK! Mind blowing when you actually stop & think about it. I'll still be suprised when thay let me take the baby home... Seriously, I have only had two cats to practice on! & we are hypochondriacs about that... Ask my vet.

Sorry for all of this deep thought at 6:20 in the morning. I guess that is what happens when you have been thinking about things in your own life & then read about them elsewhere...